Mac Mini as a iTunes Server / Windows Gamer?

[Risco]

I will of course wait for an updated mini with faster cpu / gpu. My thinking is that gaming on my Macbook, while possible is not really practical as the fan noise drives me nuts in most games! I also have a ton of videos that I like to serve to my Apple TV.

So my theory is that the new Mac Mini will have a GPU on par with my current MPB, hopefully nVidia. I could then bootcamp this for games, while also having it as an iTunes server.

Has anyone done this, and do you think the next Mac Mini will be as fast as my MBP for gaming?

 

[micrors4racer]

What games are you playing? The Mac Mini will make as much if not more noise when its being used for gaming. My mac mini 2011 makes more noise than my macbook air 2011 when playing CS:GO due to the bigger fan pushing more air.

I think building a powerful windows machine for the same price as a mini with discrete graphics would be a better solution and it would sound less like a small vacuum with way better performance. You can still use itunes on it to serve your AppleTV.

 

[throAU]

The benefit of the mini vs a macbook is that you can hide the mini further away so the noise isn't so bad.

But yeah, if gaming is a concern, a Windows PC will likely do a better job.


Unfortunately, the goals of having a small media serving box and a gaming machine (in the same device) are always going to be in conflict.

 

[btbrossard]

iTunes Server? Yes. Works great. Low power and virtually silent when tucked in a corner.

Gaming? Most likely not. It's going to get pretty noisy when under heavy load and if your going to use bootcamp anyway - there's probably cheeper windows hardware out there for gaming. Add in that a cheep PC tower is upgradable and expandable and I'd go for that if gaming is your thing.

Keep in mind that you can serve iTunes content from a Windows version of iTunes to your ATV as well.